Musings
by niravive
Summary: It's the holiday of love, yet a younger Rath is avoiding the castle and thinking. Not necessarily shonen ai, though can interpret it that way. one shot, pointless, horrid title.


AN: Takes place probably a couple of years before the series, before Rath becomes the president of the Angst company. Okay, maybe not years, but it was at least when he was physically younger.

Rath sat beneath a tree, staring at the cerulean sky thoughtfully. Something had been bothering him all day. Nay, something had been bothering him off and on since he was little.

What was the point?

He knew the rote answer to his question, but he wanted to know _why_ people kept on doing it. Why did they keep celebrating a holiday meant for love when many had been abandoned by their families? What made them keep thinking something was worth it? He knew full well why he kept fighting. He had reasons, as feeble as they occasionally sounded.

But why should one only show someone they're loved or admired on one day out of the year? If one loves them, shouldn't one show them every day?

So far he had managed to avoid the plethora of pink that had invaded the castle for most of the day by sitting out underneath the tree with only Crewger and Fire for company. _They_ at least didn't keep trying to flood him with presents. In fact, they seemed somewhat relieved that Rath was indeed just sitting, rather than trying to sneak off to hunt demons (again).

He jumped to his feet. "It's been a while. Shall we pick some flowers and visit them?" he asked his companions.

Crewger stretched before rising and trotting off to pick off yet another member of the local flora, returning moments later with another bizarre choice. Spiky purple petals with a shocking yellow center, one could almost see the pollen dripping off of it.

Fire had a more traditionally colored flower; Rath figured it was probably from the apple tree that was blooming early (he couldn't tell the flora apart).

He himself would pick a flower up on the way to paying his respects.

"Ne, Crewger, Fire, why do you think that they show people only once a year their affection?" Rath asked, hands behind his head as they strolled toward the grave. "I mean, shouldn't you show them every day in case they die?"

Crewger gave a canine shrug, choosing to ignore Rath's eccentricities at the moment.

Fire held a sign up, which Rath smiled at and nodded, mulling it over in his head.

"Maybe you're right…"

*~*

It was getting dark when the trio returned to the castle proper. Rath had gotten carried away filling the souls of the dead in on what had happened since their last visit (carefully omitting details about himself in the story), and had lost track of time.

A familiar figure was standing in the shadow cast by one of the pillars, leaning nonchalantly against the wall next to it.

"You were out late," a familiar voice said. Rath could hear the smile in the tone. "Visiting there again?"

"Kai-stern!" he exclaimed, hugging the older man with his usual exuberance.

Crewger nudged Kai-stern in the hand affectionately before padding on ahead with Fire riding on his back.

"When did you get back?"

"Just a short while ago. For some reason my presence was requested here today. Luckily I had managed to finish my mission before getting the return missive."

Rath released Kai-stern's neck and the two walked toward the castle, Rath's thoughtful mood from before returning. "Hey, Kai-stern, what's the purpose of Valentine's Day?"

"To remind people they're loved," he replied succinctly, adding in his head, 'Which is why I was called back early- to remind you of that.' He glanced over at Rath and smiled. "Come on, let's go. Raseleane's bound to have organized a feast." He grabbed Rath by the hand before the boy could escape and walked with him hand in hand. 'It'll do you good to be reminded yourself.'

Rath blinked before laughing.

"What? What's so funny?"

"That's exactly what Fire wrote!"

AN: Written because there were no Valentine's Day fics out there that I could find for Dragon Knights. Yes, this is firmly a one-shot. No arguments. And yes, I am very much aware that I am two days late for the holiday; I am two _months_ late for a sequel I'm writing. Better late than never, eh? And I tried researching apples, but I couldn't find the info I wanted, so I'm just going to claim that they have early blooming apple trees. Probably OOC since it took me a whole fifteen minutes to write, proof and spell check the entire thing. ^^*


End file.
